NEW YORK – Bengie Molina went 4-for-4 with a three-run homer, Kelvim Escobar outpitched Kevin Brown and the Anaheim Angels completed a three-game sweep of the slumping New York Yankees with a 4-3 victory Sunday.

Gary Sheffield homered and had two RBIs for the Yankees, who scored only four runs in the series and were booed by a sellout crowd of 53,885.

New York lost for the sixth time in seven games and has been outscored 37-11 in the defeats. With Boston’s 6-5 victory in Chicago on Sunday night, the Yankees’ AL East lead dipped to 5 games for the first time since June 28.

They were ahead of the rival Red Sox by a season-high 10 games just last Sunday.

Mariners 5, Tigers 3

DETROIT – Willie Bloomquist hit his first homer in more than 13 months – a go-ahead three-run shot in the fifth inning – to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Gil Meche (4-5) allowed three runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 inning, helping Seattle avoid a three-game sweep. He has won three straight starts after winning just once in his first 12.

Devil Rays 2, Athletics 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Dewon Brazelton pitched seven strong innings, and Jose Cruz Jr. hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth to lift the Tampa Bay Devil Rays over the Oakland Athletics 2-1 on Sunday.

Brazelton (6-4) gave up one run and five hits to improve to 6-1 at home this season.

Royals 10, Rangers 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Calvin Pickering drove in six runs with a grand slam and a two-run home run in his first major league appearance in almost three years to power the Kansas City Royals to a 10-2 victory over Texas, that snapped the Rangers’ eight-game winning streak on Sunday.

In his previous official at-bat in the majors on Oct. 5, 2001, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Pickering hit a three-run home run for Boston against Baltimore.

Pickering, who hit 35 home runs for Triple-A Omaha this season, walked in his first plate appearance. Then he drove a 3-2 pitch from Scott Erickson over the fence in left field with one out in the third for his first career grand slam.

Blue Jays 8, Orioles 5

BALTIMORE – Eric Hinske and Vernon Wells homered, and the Toronto Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with an 8-5 victory Sunday.

Miguel Tejada went 4-for-5 with a homer, three doubles and five RBI for the Orioles.

Twins 7, Indians 3

MINNEAPOLIS – Justin Morneau drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning before leaving when he was hit in the hand by a pitch, and the Minnesota Twins completed a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians with a 7-3 victory Sunday.

Corey Koskie homered and Torii Hunter had three hits, including a three-run double, for Minnesota. The first-place Twins, who led Cleveland by only a game last Sunday, took a seven-game lead in the AL Central.

The Indians have lost seven straight, including four to the Twins.

Brad Radke (9-6) allowed two unearned runs and seven hits in seven innings to win his fourth straight decision. He struck out four and walked one, and hasn’t lost since July 16 – going 4-0 with three no-decisions in that span.

C.C. Sabathia (9-8) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings, leaving after hitting Morneau in the left hand with a pitch. The first baseman was taken to a hospital for X-rays, which were negative. The team said Morneau has a bruised hand and is day to day.

“I’ll ice it some more tonight and we’ll see how it feels (Monday),” Morneau said.

With the game tied at 2 in the fifth, Lew Ford walked on a full count with one out and Hunter singled to right to put runners on first and third. Morneau hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Ford with the go-ahead run.

Matthew LeCroy followed with an RBI single to make it 4-2.

The Twins led 4-2 in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with two outs against Sabathia. Hunter lined a double off the right-field wall, clearing the bases and making it 7-4.

Morneau, the next batter, was hit on the left hand by a pitch from Sabathia. Morneau walked to first base, where he was treated by a team trainer. He stayed on base until the inning ended, then was replaced defensively by Michael Cuddyer.

“I’m not saying it was intentional or anything,” Morneau said, “but he had a base open and a righty coming up (next).”

The Indians took a 2-0 lead in the second on a rally started by consecutive one-out singles by Ben Broussard and Casey Blake. One out later, a fielding error by shortstop Cristian Guzman allowed Broussard to score. Grady Sizemore followed with an RBI single.

The Twins answered with a run in the third when Luis Rivas doubled, stole third, and scored on Shannon Stewart’s groundout.

Koskie’s homer, his 21st, tied it at 2 in the fourth.

Matt Lawton had an RBI single off Joe Nathan in the ninth to make it 7-3.

Notes: Sizemore snapped an 0-for-17 slump with his RBI single. … Basestealers have stolen bases in 14 of 20 attempts with Sabathia on the mound. The Twins were 2-for-2 in steal attempts Sunday.

AP-ES-08-22-04 1737EDT